Monday, March 25, 2013

John Payne? Max McClane? OR Roleplaying Behind the Camera

Wow! It has been longer than I like since I posted last. Whatever, just moved across the country. Back to the blogging grindstone, I suppose. Oh the drudgery.

rockstargames.com/maxpayne3
I recently finished playing through Max Payne 3. It was a pretty good manshoot, with enough context to make the linear corridors and shooting of mans from being odious. It was the context, visually rich and well written overall that got me thinking about where the player fits into such a closed narrative. When I finished, I was thinking that the player's input is completely superfluous to the narrative itself, but also vitally important because otherwise it wouldn't exist. The player is just turning pages, hitting the play button on what is billed as a piece of interactive media. However, the next thing I did with my free time is what changed my viewpoint somewhat.
I watched Die Hard.
Wikimedia
Now, the parallels between Max and John McClane are pretty easy to find. Both are grizzled, quippy, and blaze through their situation with a mix of extreme competence and bad decisions. But watching Die Hard, I had a thought. When playing a game, I would almost always be thinking of the main character as me, or that they were intended to be me. There is a supposition that the controlled character in the game is the players avatar, the embodiment of our will in the game space. But in a game like Max Payne 3 the player's agency is limited by the standards of a linear shooter's level design, and the idea of him as an avatar for the player is continuously undermined by Max's constant narration. Now, I really like his narration, but it definitely made me feel distanced from Max himself. I would never speak for myself, never make a decision besides when to pull the trigger (if at all). But, I was directing him along his chosen path, and that is where I found a comfortable position to get involved.

rockstargames.com/maxpayne3
By placing yourself in the role of the cinematographer of Max Payne 3: Favela Freakout, the game becomes much more interesting. The purpose is no longer to survive the shootout of the favelas as an ex-cop from Jersey, it's to make that digital model of an ex-cop from Jersey look as badass as possible. You aren't enacting John Woo slow motion gunplay, you are John Woo. In that capacity, a certain amount of roleplay can occur, which is incredibly immersive. While it may not have been the original intent, it has certainly cast a different, very positive light on what would otherwise be a somewhat samey game.

rockstargames.com/maxpayne3
While a lot of shooters could be played with a similar mindset, I think that Max Payne 3 is particularly suited to it, with the lack of HUD, slow motion mechanic, and the dynamic camera movements and cuts when killing the last foe of a shootout. While it may be somewhat disorienting from a player perspective, not to mention pointless mechanically, as the cinematographer, it's vastly preferable to the having the camera in the exact same over the shoulder shot the entire time (that film would be incredibly boring). The fact that you can both engage your slow motion and keep firing while the target collapses really adds to the player's control of the presentation. All of these mechanics come together to create an almost curatorial position for the player, encouraging action packed, visually arresting gameplay. Sometimes it takes a step back to really get into a piece of art.